2 Chronicles 36
1 The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months.
3 The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and imposed a levy on the land of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold.
4 The king of Egypt made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar took some of the articles from the house of the LORD to Babylon and placed them in his temple there.
8 The rest of Jehoiakim’s deeds, the abominations he committed, and what was found against him are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.
10 At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with the precious articles from the house of the LORD. He made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years.
12 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke by the word of the LORD.
13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart, refusing to return to the LORD, the God of Israel.
14 Moreover, all the chief priests and the people multiplied their acts of unfaithfulness, following all the abominations of the nations. They defiled the house of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent messengers to them again and again, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and jeered at his prophets, until the LORD’s anger rose against his people and there was no remedy.
17 So he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in their sanctuary. That king showed no compassion to young man or young woman, old or aged. God handed them all over to him.
18 All the articles of the house of God, large and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and his officials—he took everything to Babylon.
19 They burned the house of God, tore down the wall of Jerusalem, set all its palaces on fire, and destroyed all its precious objects.
20 He carried into exile in Babylon those who had escaped the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia began to reign.
21 So the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days it lay desolate, it rested, until seventy years had been completed.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia. He had a proclamation made throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who among you belongs to his people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.’”
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